Of FreeCell and Phone Chargers: A Lebanese Parable

Lebanese politics often resembles a game of FreeCell to me. Or, for the millennials among us: 2048, which I often catch my students playing on their phones before class begins. For long stretches, the board is locked down. There is an occasional opening, a small shift in the grid, but it comes to nothing. Hardly anything moves for several rounds as the prospect of a game-ending rigor mortis looms. Then, a fortuitous tile appears and suddenly the whole board becomes a slurry of synergies.

We commentators dignify such moments with terms like “grand bargain” but I often feel that coincidence has more to do with it than anything else. Is the vacancy of Lebanon’s presidential palace a story of irreconcilable ideological differences and fragile political coalitions, or is it a function of the fact that there are no compelling reasons for any stakeholder to abide by any precedent, deadline, or authority?

I was discussing this question with a friend of mine over lunch in Beirut a few months ago. At the time, it was the Prime Minister’s office that was vacant rather than the President’s. Lebanon, I observed to my lunch companion, is like an out-of-work, out-of-shape, depressed, recently divorced, middle-aged man who stays home all day watching the World Cup and can’t find his phone charger. (Obviously, the FreeCell analogy had not yet occurred to me…)

The missing phone charger would appear to be the least of his worries, but in fact it’s the psychological key to his predicament. Not being able to find the charger means that he cannot charge his cell phone, which means he cannot take calls from his friends or his family or his creditors, which means, finally, that he can’t face up to his situation. Lebanon’s inability to hold an election — parliamentary, prime ministerial, or presidential — without several months of fruitless “negotiations” tells a similar story. Outside the door, there is a refugee crisis, a burgeoning jihadi movement, a simmering conflict in neighboring Syria, and the fourth-highest public debt-to-GDP ratio in the world. Is it any wonder that Lebanon’s political elites can’t find the phone charger?

The latest “solution” to the crisis being touted by the FPM is a popularly elected president, to replace the Ta’if-based system of electing a president in Parliament. Michel Aoun believes that the same majorities that gave the March 8 alliance a 55% popular vote victory in 2009 (despite losing the electoral math) would carry him into office as well. Naturally, no one is biting on the M14 side. Another unhelpful three of clubs, when what we really need is that two of hearts… yeah right.

A few weeks ago, it seemed that we were nearing one of those synergistic moments on the presidential FreeCell board, as Saad Hariri and Michel Aoun reported several “positive meetings”. What scuttled the initiative is anyone’s guess.

Then again, even if a Hariri-Aoun deal brings either GMA himself or one of his relatives to Baabda, the election would trigger the dissolution of the cabinet, at which point another prime minister and cabinet would have to be nominated and elected, followed by the November parliamentary elections (which will trigger the dissolution of the infant cabinet and the election of yet another one, at which point we should be ready for a new president again…)

Clever Lebanon. Just as it finds its missing charger, it discovers that it’s an old Nokia one that doesn’t work with its new iPhone. May as well go back to watching the World Cup.

Discussion

185 thoughts on “Of FreeCell and Phone Chargers: A Lebanese Parable”

Thank you QN. I wonder whether the paralysis we see is a good or bad sign. The same is happening now in Iraq, MPs were unable to elect a speaker. Gridlock can be useful in a situation of crisis and can force a compromise. The alternative is total breakdbreakdown or total control by one side forever and after ever. Have you ever heard of a governmental crisis in Syria recently? The blocking party is holding the system to ransom and may be demanding too high a price. There is no credible arbiter either regionally or internationally. Violence is part of the game, like when the kidnappers or hostage takers threaten to send you an ear.The stakes are high in both Lebanon and Iraq and there are very good reasons for the crisis, last I heard we almost beat Belgium’s record in not forming a government.

So, where are all those enlightened commentators, complaining childishly about so-called love nests and making personal attacks on wise Akbar Palace accusing him of being dumb Zionist? Why don’t they give us their precious insights on the present topic? OK, Akbar is Zionist but is NOT dumb. And that guy whose moniker starts with 3 must shut up and behave himself.

OK, what’s new about Lebanon and its dysfunctional system? We don’t have president yet, right? Any surprises? Even the Muslims now have a Caliph!!! 🙂

And if you haven’t noticed we have an emir in Lebanon.

Why would Aoun want to tailor make the constitution to his own liking? And why would anyone give his proposal any consideration?

He tried the Hariri track and it backfired on him. It’s as simple as that. Naive newbie Hariri was PLAINLY AND IN SIMPLE STRAIGHTFORWARD ARABIC told by higher authorities: forget about this guy. He is a NO GO.

We (I) told you so long long ago. Hariri is a no body and he should just disappear from Lebanese politics altogether. And for that matter so should Aoun.

“Is the vacancy of Lebanon’s presidential palace a story of irreconcilable ideological differences and fragile political coalitions, or is it a function of the fact that there are no compelling reasons for any stakeholder to abide by any precedent, deadline, or authority?”

In your 4/26/14 post you wrote:

“More relevant than the matter of who the next president will be is the question of whether Lebanon needs a president at all, a quarter century after the Ta’if Agreement.”

Could it be that the answer to the current questions be embedded in the earlier one?

Lebanon is facing some extraordinary challenges ranging from security issues to drought to refugees, yet there is an impression that the citizenry is not overly concerned about the vacancy in the palace.

Would either Geagea or Aoun taking up residence in the palace make any material difference in addressing the critical problems besetting Lebanon?

Given this prospect :

“the election would trigger the dissolution of the cabinet, at which point another prime minister and cabinet would have to be nominated and elected, followed by the November parliamentary elections (which will trigger the dissolution of the infant cabinet and the election of yet another one, at which point we should be ready for a new president again…)

During the current state of instability, who could blame the Lebanese for their lack of enthusiasm for yet another round of wrangling?

I don’t think that a Geagea or Aoun presidency would make much difference at all to the problems you mention, but the continued vacuum erodes the already fragile faith in the relevance of institutions.

QN I have homework for you: what do you imagine a functional state doing in such a situation? Take a firm and clear stand, either pro or anti Assad, on Syria? Close the border? Provide full services like health and education to the refugees? enforce the Baada accord? Fight Hizballah? Police every town where there are refugees? Build camps and maintain them? Disarm Palestinian faction in and out of camps? What about the other militias like the SSNP, Amal etc.?

Maybe the game of politics in Lebanon reflects an increasing projection onto means and processes–and the collapse of the ideal attachment to goals, outcomes, and events. Maybe the simualcra of institutions are reiterated in these continuous “crises” that seem to infinitely defer any resolution.

Lebanon’s politics would be the first postmodern political practice of rejecting teleology (and solutions) for an infinite deferral/delay of processes that lead to nowhere. After losing any trust in politics, after being saturated with the affects of fear and hope, it appears that Lebanese people are learning to live with an ethical nihilism, and erasure of all politics and an infinite awaiting that values indeterminacy and the open horizons.

The chaotic nature of politics reflects the unique form of subjectivity produced in/around Lebanon that no longer expects anything and that no longer believes in demanding anything but that adapts to the movement of everything.

“the continued vacuum erodes the already fragile faith in the relevance of institutions.”

One could argue that the installation of either Aoun or Geagea in the Baabda palace would accelerate the erosion of that fragile faith…..;)

Perhaps it’s best to leave well enough alone for now.

If the neocons worst fears are realized, there is the hope that Lebanon will have the president (El Generalissimo Jean Kahwaji) best equipped to deal with the threats of global jihadis eager to add the prize of Lebanon to their caliphate.

The inevitable outcome for the presidency will be either the Lebanese army leader or the Bank of Lebanon leader (military and economic power). That path towards neoliberal consolidation of pokitical power as economic (with the military in support of stability for purely economic purposes) is what the collapse of traditional political (weberian) institutions means. I am not sure if Aoun or Geagea would preserve the tradional politics that is already threatened (through pervasive corruption, lack of political engagement by neofeodal subjects, decimation of the powers of unions and of independent political parties with real platforms aiming at serving the populace, etc.).

The best outcome, having a savvy president who can bring in financial support to reduce state debt and to alleviate the economic suffering of the majority (the CEO or Development officer model) would still not serve politics. Politics may be served with a revival of a “national” communal identity (beyond sectarian ones) and re-establishing trust in state institutions (driven by some kind of belief in either rationality or communality). A president cannot offer such a reformist path alone. As Heidegger said, only a God can save us now–and I am sure that he did not mean a God of any monotheistic persuasion.

I’d love to complete the homework assignment. The main problem, as I see it, is that you are assuming that Lebanese gridlock is the outcome of the political malaise in the region. I don’t think this is entirely correct. Since 2005, we’ve seen these fainting spells become more frequent and drawn out. Even when the trend has been toward accommodationism, the principals take forever to figure it all out. Some kind of structural reform is necessary.

QN 2005 is barely 10 years ago – Syria withdrew after more than 29 years and regime had 15 years (1990-2005) to clone itself into the system. Structural reform is absolutely crucial, but it depends what we mean by it and we go back to the same political division: for some structural reform is exorcising the rest of the demon from the system; for others it is completing the cloning operation. The battle for the control of Lebanon is the same as the one for Iraq and Syria. Political divisions are normal, but when there are rules for the game that do not include assassinations.

Israeli help will be required once again if “exorcising the rest of the demon from the system” is on the agenda.

So sad too bad that the Israelis are going to have to make some strategic calculations about which demons are more threatening. Given that Israeli security types are remonstrating against more actions against Hamas because they are seen as a hedge against the presence of ISIS in the Sinai, the WB and Gaza…..
…..it’s only natural that they will be satisfied that the former topdog HA/Iranian demons will eventually be directly engaged with the more nebulous evil demons of the global jihad metastasizing on Syrian soil. Who better to confront that MENACE than the combined forces of the SAA, HA and the NDF?

A Palace. The term “global jihadis” is one used by Israel analysts etc to describe the likes of Al Qaeda and ISIS. They do not include Hezbollah. Think of it as a politically correct way of referring to Sunni terrorists without having to link them to terms like salafists/wahabbis/takfiris sons of bin Laden that denotes their sect.

Parhessia. If human nature is any guide, the dire threats to life and limb will go far to rally the “neofeodal subjects” communal interests around a leader who is perceived to have the best chance to protect them from the enemy within and without.

I give you 9/11. The collective response of the American public was to throw their panties at George Bush amid cries of “do what you will to save us from this horrendous peril!!!!”

A Palace. When it comes to matters related to security, Israeli analysts directly concerned with those issues tend to minimize the politically propagandist hyperbole in favor of trying their best to ascertain the truth of the matters at hand.

I suggest that you, as a fellow zionist, attempt to use them as a resource rather than relying on Dick Cheney and/or Sara Palin and/or bibi for reliable information about Israel’s security.

Calling HA a “jihadist” organization is my opinion. I stand by it. Any theocratic organization that cannot live equally or democratically with a secular or different religious community without imposing its will on these other groups and moreover, has an extra-governmental militia is a “GeeHadi” organization no different than the other 800 or so jihadi groups pillaging the ME.

I am constantly receiving reports from Iraqis who have contacts in Mosul, and they all expressing one and the same message:

The people of Mosul are much happier under the current arrangement than when they were under Maliki. People of Mosul are praising the rebels as very respectful and as not interfering in people’s lives as falsely reported in western media.

Maliki used the “new” Obama policy (to ensure American failure in Iraq) to prop himself up and become another ME despot.

Here’s what I didn’t learn:

GWB left the White House with Iraq successfully on the mend and in relative peace.

Here are some interesting quotes by the author I found interesting and somewhat contradictory:

I have known Maliki, or Abu Isra, as he is known to people close to him, for more than a decade. I have traveled across three continents with him. I know his family and his inner circle. When Maliki was an obscure member of parliament, I was among the very few Americans in Baghdad who took his phone calls. In 2006, I helped introduce him to the U.S. ambassador, recommending him as a promising option for prime minister.

Few of us had hope in Iraq’s future during the depths of the civil war, but a year after the surge began, the country seemed to be back on track.

After more than 2,000 days of service, I was ill, depleted physically and mentally, but hopeful that America’s enormous sacrifices might have produced a positive outcome.

After helping to bring him to power in 2006, I argued in 2010 that Maliki had to go.

The crisis now gripping Iraq and the Middle East was not only predictable but predicted — and preventable. By looking the other way and unconditionally supporting and arming Maliki, President Obama has only lengthened and expanded the conflict that President Bush unwisely initiated.

So what’s your conclusion after reading the interesting passage? Why do you think the author is being contradictory here?

The way I look at it is like this. The author, having been intimately involved in the Iraq war from the outset, was perhaps initially enthusiastic about the war and supportive of GWB. In retrospect, he now believes GWB unwisely initiated the war and he also blames President O. for exacerbating the outcome. I don’t see any contradictions here, unless you can point them out to me.

By his admission, he (the author) resigned his commission and was bitter about it having realized that he would be unable to avert what he strongly believed, two or three years ago, would be a disaster.

The author, having been intimately involved in the Iraq war from the outset, was perhaps initially enthusiastic about the war and supportive of GWB. In retrospect, he now believes GWB unwisely initiated the war and he also blames President O. for exacerbating the outcome.

Mustap,

Your statement sums up everything very well, and most probably, the sentiments of the author.

It is interesting how people who were “initially enthusiastic about the war” NOW say it was “unwise”.

In retrospect (and with 20-20 hindsight), I still think the war was the right thing to do, however, I would have made sure Maliki signed a long term agreement on US bases. Obama needed failure. OTOH, I think it is necessary to have US bases in that area just like we have bases in Italy, Germany and Japan. Those post-WW2 bases were important THEN, and Iraqi bases are important NOW. In that part of the world we have Syria and Iran and I think that’s reason enough to have a strong forward base in Iraq. But all this is water under the bridge.

Obama’s policy of ensuring defeat in Iraq succeeded just the way he wanted, and he and the liberal historians will make sure of that. I will, of course, dispute that.

Shameless AP is getting bored to watch his beloved US-sustained terrorist army torn boys and girls into pieces. He is back on QN to try to make friends. Pathetic. Oh I know all too well this is the reaction you wanted. As if you like to be reminded of how much Arabs and Muslims hate your criminal project in the land of Palestine.

Don’t get so hot under the collar. Geez, a few Palestinian terrorists get killed and all of a sudden you get an attitude. If BB the child killing murderer put on an Assad mask and displaced 3 Nakbas of his own people with nearly 200000 dead you’d be as quiet as a mouse just like Lollipops.

I envy those self appointed despots. Their cheerleaders are faithful and plentiful.

Retard. Your zionist fantasy will come to and end soon. All you’ll have left as an entertainment on Fox News will be the petty US politics. No more saga about the White Man trying to make the sand n****rs behave.

Please kindly review the barbaric bombing by the IDF. We all know the excuse of the kidnapped kids was used to indiscriminately bomb to “teach the Palestinians a lesson”. We all know that Palestinian unity just pisses BB off.

I have reviewed the barbaric bombing by the IDF, and after my review, I do not find it barbaric, nor do I find the kidnapped and murdered kids an excuse for anything, nor did I find the IDF indiscriminately bomb anyone to “teach the Palestinians a lesson”.

At this point, my review concludes that 125 Palis died per international news reports, that IDF fire is quite accurate (per video samples posted on-line) and per warnings sent to residents prior to firing and that the IDF fires at specific targets whether they are terrorists living quarters or missile launchers. Furthermore, Israel including all other nations at war, cannot guarantee that their fire will not cause a casualty of a non-combatant. Many of these missile launchers are near public buildings like hospitals, mosques and schools. After a full week of war, where Israel has had to absorb about a 1000 missiles aimed at Israeli population centers, I’d say 125 dead is NOT indiscriminate. How many of those 125 are combatants or non-combatants? I don’t think you’ll ever get an accurate accounting.

That is my review. Meanwhile BB grows more popular, as Israelis, determine whether he has done a good job or not. So far, so good. Israel pulled back from Lebanon because of public opinion. Let’s see if Israelis want to pull back from Gaza, where more and more sophisticated missiles are being fired indiscriminately into Israel terrortory.

No buyers to the BS you are spewing out! Barrels? Well the animals of IDF did one better in Lebanon by using cluster bombs that are still killing and maiming kids. As for hitting the right targets; I guess bombing the Disabled Center was right! The idiots at the center could not evacuate in time.

Cut the crap. The Israelis will not win this one even if it takes a thousand years!So far we know what Israel accomplished in its last heroic incursion into Gaza…Nothing but destruction! I guess you have not tamed the hamas terror eh? 1000 missiles? I challenge you to show me any evidence of damage that these firecrackers had done. Israel would not have had anything fired at them if they had not started this…

So much falsehood and lies. Another sign and how bankrupt the whole zionist experiment is. Arabs and Muslim are a 100% in support of the gazaouis and their right to resist oppression by any means they deem appropriate.

And regarding your BS regarding targeted strike. What makes you think that Hamas is not targeting their strikes ?

No one has talked about “winning”, and I don’t know what that means as far as this minor conflict flares up every so many years. It is about survival from Islamists, like Hamas, who feel the need to harm the Zionist Project supercedes the welfare of the people they govern.

Israel is lucky that more haven’t perished from the 1000 or so missiles (that you ignore) fired from Aza. Israel, from the anti-zionist POV, is supposed to:

1.) Let Hamas smuggle any weapons to their country for their stated use against Israel.

“The Day of Judgement will not come about until Moslems fight the Jews (killing the Jews), when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say O Moslems, O Abdulla, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him. Only the Gharkad tree, (evidently a certain kind of tree) would not do that because it is one of the trees of the Jews.” (related by al­Bukhari and Moslem).”

They have yet to kill anyone. Whatever they are targeting, they aren’t doing a good job. Of course their missiles are always getting more sophisticated and are traveling further, so Israel’s response will always follow the level of threat.

I have scouted Arab social media recently and found out that the Arabs are more interested in the world cup than this latest Hamsawi futile attempt to resurrect a credible support for discredited resistance.

I have also discovered increasing numbers of Arabs correctly referring to Hamas as a terrorist organization.

Thanks to the Wise King who correctly and wisely identified the MB’s as the terrorist branch of mullah supported terrorism.

Correction about 600 missiles have been fired from Aza at a cost of about 150 deaths. We applaud the brave Hamas fighters for their efforts against the joos, especially those hiding behind the talking twees.

The salfist is a lost case…on some good stuff. Who cares about what he says about his wise king lol…As for your links. Wow! I should link you to some Jewish sites whereas they swear that BB is the terrorist…Ynetnews eh?

Lol the house of Saud worshipper just broke his silence. For a second I was hoping that his extremism was softened by the images of burned Arab babies. I was wrong, he was just on “social media” stalking Saudi propagandist twitter feeds.

Have you noticed the thousands of protesters around the world standing up for the right to live of the human beings of Gaza ?

No matter what could be said of Hamas, there remain part of the Palestinian efforts to fight against the aggressors.

If it is necessary to dismiss the gulf backward monarchs hatred against the MB (because they represent a true challenge to their corrupt rules)…One can still reasonably critize Hamas on several aspects. They are still part of the Palestinian fabric, they fight for their land, they are seen by many as the true Resistance.

So these tokens Arabs (i.e. those who write in Al Arabiya) do not represent anyone but themselves.

And the mustap and other bigots of this kind use the old trick of labeling those who support the resistance in Palestine as being pro Iran and its party in Lebanon, pro-Asad barbaric clan. The trick is too obvious.

Long story short : the natives have the right and duty to oppose any kind of oppression. Be it from they own ranks or from foreign thieves. Be it supported by regional sectarian powers or global imperialist powers.

What’s your point? I have heard from some Jews discuss on how different or special they are. They do not want to acknowledge any Genocides as they think Holocaust is unique. Same here. Assad is a barbaric bloodthirsty maniac. So is Hamas and the Yellow-jackets. How does that make what the IDF is doing right.

Stop posting links to news stories. We all have access to those. On moral ground BB is no better than Hassan Nassrallah, Assad, AlBaghdadi(or whatever hell his name is), the wise king or any other blood thirsty goon. They all facilitate, fund and kill all in the name of some inane religious reason…Protect the Jewish state or protect the Salafist kingdom in hell…or the bloodthirsty Umma…No better than what the Crusaders did…

On moral ground BB is no better than Hassan Nassrallah, Assad, AlBaghdadi(or whatever hell his name is), the wise king or any other blood thirsty goon. They all facilitate, fund and kill all in the name of some inane religious reason…Protect the Jewish state…

Danny,

I appreciate your POV, but it is flawed, IMHO. Basically, you’re making a blanket statement saying every state in the ME is “blood thirsty”, and I disagree.

Jordan and Egypt made a peace agreement with Israel, so these 3 countries are not firing missiles at each other, thank G-d.
Secondly, Israel is not a monarchy, a military dictatorship, or a self-appointed autocracy, so I believe Israel’s democracy provides Israel more legitimacy than many other ME states. Israel is not beholden to another paramilitary force that acts independently like Lebanon for example.

The PA doesn’t launch missiles into Israel, Jordan doesn’t, the KSA doesn’t, and Egypt doesn’t so Israel has no need to search and destroy missile launchers 8 these countries. Nor are they secretly amassing thousands of missiles for a future confrontation.

1.) Non democratic
2.) Islamist
3.) Anti-Semitic
4.) Amass missiles for an eventual confrontation with the Zionist Entity
5.) Actually fire missiles into the Zionist Entity with no regard to the consequences and how it will affect them and their people, knowing it will not buy them anything.
6) Never considering a peace treaty with the joo state.

That said, these “bloodthirsty goons” will unfortunately have more than enough supporters to egg them on year after year and losing battle after losing battle.

“Hamas” did not kidnap and murder those poor kids and in fact, the Israeli authorities knew they were dead right from day 2. The burned and abandoned vehicle had plentiful observable evidence that confirmed the sounds of the killings as revealed during the phone call from one of the boys.

I would expect that you would be outraged about the ensuing week plus of mass arrests and 6 deaths that happened while the bibi et al pretended the kids could still be alive and the extended actions in the WB were due to the jackboots “searching” for them. The present killings in Gaza are direct result of the engineered pogroms.

“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly blamed Hamas for the kidnapping, and pointed to the Fatah-Hamas unity pact concluded last month as contributing to the terrorist act.

Military and security figures have quietly cautioned since fingers began pointing at Hamas that there was no concrete evidence the kidnappers were operating under instructions from Hamas higher-ups. Today for the first time they began speaking not quietly but openly, warning that attacking Hamas as an organization in response to the kidnapping would backfire, fail to deter future terrorism and serve Hamas’s goal of isolating and delegitimizing Israel internationally.”
Read more: http://blogs.forward.com/jj-goldberg/#ixzz37LwKzctQ

So, Vulcan. Let’s see you expand your circle of outrage to include those who have, apparently duped you, too.

The salfist is a lost case…on some good stuff. Who cares about what he says about his wise king lol…

Danny,

I wanted to say a few word about your comment above. I’ve had disagreements with Mustap and I’m not a big cheerleader of direct monarchies like the KSA. As a spoiled American-jew, I am a staunch believers in liberal western democracy. That said, I am learning that my expectation and hope that this can be employed throughout the ME was naive. You guys have to figure this out.

Mustap, for all his cheerleading of the “wise king”, has a unique POV. He is smart and we’ll acquainted with the internal machinations of most arab governments. He is not a knee-jerk anti-zionist either, which is a surprise by itself.

Everything Netanyahu does is totally public and under the microscope. It is no secret that he was displeased with the Hamas – PA pact. It is also no secret the IDF was aggressively trying to find these 3 kids with the hope of finding them alive with the people who committed this crime.

So yes, this crime was used to put a wedge between the PA and hamas. You may think that was cynical, but I think it was a smart move by BB. The Palestinian’s have to make a decision whether they want to live with the jewish state or not.

If BB’s crime was political hot air (and believe me, I would prefer a peace treaty where the Israelis work closely with a Palestinian army), hamas’ s crime was to get involved firing missile salvos.

The kidnappers and murderers of the 3 Israeli teens may or may not have been hamas members, so what?

APalace.Get this through your gddm thick skull. The GOI knew those boys were dead right after the car was found and examined. BIBI et al lied to everyone, including the parents of those dead kids and pretended they were alive in order to dismantle the Hamas infrastructure in the WB. Over 500 were arrested and at least 6 dead are attributed to their actions in the WB.

Ask yourself if the outrage fueled by the lying sacks of GOI crap was responsible for the Jewish terrorists who burned the Palestinian kid alive.

Maybe Hamas’ top didn’t order it, but don’t forget how they reacted to Abbas when he condemned the kidnapping and demanded the teens be released. Let me also remind you of the celebrations across the West Bank and Gaza and the Hamas sponsored 3 finger campaign, not to mention the freshly baked for the occasion Baklawa trays.

Whatever the GOI did to leaverage this crime, it is not that far more terrible and it didn’t matter anyways, because the Palestinians never miss a chance to collaborate with their enemy.

This competition among these 2 people as to who can display the most lack of empathy or humanity is truly repulsive.

Vulcan. How did Hamas react to the false accusations from that quisling eunuch Abbas? Please provide links to reports on that and the other claims you have made here:

“Let me also remind you of the celebrations across the West Bank and Gaza and the Hamas sponsored 3 finger campaign, not to mention the freshly baked for the occasion Baklawa trays.”

FYI, I can provide you with reports of the widespread approval for rightwing Israeli price tagging violence on Arabs and own their fellow Jewish Israeli citizens if you like. My sources are Israelis horrified about what is happening to their country. Here’s a hint, Vulcan; I have a huge arsenal of ammo….examples…. that will swamp anything provided by likud & friendlies workin’ it at WINEP, twitter, FDD and CNN.

The GOI’s leverage of this crime has lead directly to the present assault on Gaza and if bibi and the rest of the bloodthirsty warmongers have their way, linking Iran to Hamas will lead to even more drastic stupidities on our (America’s) part.

“Palestinians never miss a chance to collaborate with their enemy”.

Prolly not a good idea for any Lebanese to be pointing this particular finger at another group, is it, Vulcan? ; {)

BTW. To be clear, at the base of my outrage is the cold certainty that none of this crap would be happening if it weren’t for the collaboration of my very own government and a growing dread that things can spiral out of control….

Trita Parsi reports on US/Iran nuke talks and tweeted this:

Trita Parsi @tparsi · 4h
US refused expanding Iran dialogue to discuss human rights, Syria, or even ISIS. But is now expanding it to discuss Iran’s ties to Hamas…

Get this through your gddm thick skull. The GOI knew those boys were dead right after the car was found and examined.

Lala,

Can you show me some evidence of that? I’ll offer an apology if you can.

BIBI et al lied to everyone, including the parents of those dead kids and pretended they were alive in order to dismantle the Hamas infrastructure in the WB. Over 500 were arrested and at least 6 dead are attributed to their actions in the WB.

Ask yourself if the outrage fueled by the lying sacks of GOI crap was responsible for the Jewish terrorists who burned the Palestinian kid alive.

Lollipops,

Jesus H. Christ, I don’t judge criminals by political rhetoric, I judge them by their guilt and their crime. All the jews and Israelis I’ve spoken too want these jewish murdering fuck-ups to fry and be made an example of.

And BTW, as I recall your friend BB telephoned the parents of this poor Palin kid his condolences for whatever that is worth.

Vulcan. Your um explanation of what you meant has further confused the issue…….I was being snarky and perhaps should have mentioned the SLA and the like (Elias Murr) as examples of collaborating with the enemy……

So. Who is trying to up the ante by inciting Israel to cause a wider conflagration involving Lebanon and Syria?

The Israelis know better than anyone who is and who isn’t launching what their way from the newly rebel-held base for the SAA’s Brigade 90 and from the Tyre district in southern Lebanon So it’s their choice to fight on another front or two. Or three because there is also stuff coming in from the Sinai.

May the wiser heads prevail.

APalace. You own no one an apology; Israelis have learned to apply gag orders like a boss; including muzzling the foreign press. Gag orders are an art they have mastered. From an article discussing the larger issue of gag orders:

“But the story is far from complete. Because for weeks prior to the Abu Khdeir murder, ever since the June 12 kidnapping and murder of Eyal Yifrach, Naftali Fraenkel, and Gil-ad Shaar, the police and Shin Bet had asked for, and received, a gag order on all matters relating to that investigation, too — creating a ringing dichotomy between what some reporters and security officials knew (that the teens had likely been swiftly murdered) and what was being said to the public (namely, that the forces were operating under the assumption that the teens were alive).

Be cheered that it’s Israelis themselves who are intent on pushing the truth of their manipulation out beyond the reach of the military censors. Other accounts have discussed the presence of 8 shell casings and copious blood in the torched vehicle. The phone call did include the sounds of the gunshots and the dying and the celebration of the manic killers. They effin’ knew. Just like with Goldwasser on July 12 2006.

Mutsap. Which president do you want to discuss?

My hands-down-favorite moment is our pilot president strutting his stuff around the carrier deck under the Mission Accomplished banner. Too laugh or cry that our once respectable media were extras on the Hollywood stage set portraying a proud USN ship at sea…… agreed not to mention that the ship was at anchor less than a mile offshore the southern California coast. Hard to top that one.

I would like to discuss the pwesident of mullahstan. Isn’t that where it is more appropriate for you to call ouw pwesident?

But I love the amusement you provide by your prentenses.

Akbar Palace,

I need not remind you how idiotitic this geagea fan is. Don’t mind his nonesense. It is the result of frustration over yet another pwesidency. His idol is pwesidently impotent and the Wise King is ensuring he remains so.

Who is trying to up the ante by inciting Israel to cause a wider conflagration involving Lebanon and Syria?

Lollipops,

So much of your narrative is created out of thin air I’m wondering if you need to seek a professional.

Firstly, “incitement” is a jihadist and wesistance STAPLE. Go to your favorite website, MEMRI, and you’ll get enough info to wade in up to your eyeballs. Pali and wesistance kidz get indoctrinated at a very young age. Does this bother you?

The only thing that “incites” Israelis are hundreds of missiles flying over their towns and cities.

“There can be no ceasefire unless the conditions of the Resistance are met,” he added, saying Israel had to stop blockading Gaza and free hundreds of Palestinians it rounded up in the occupied West Bank last month while searching for three Jewish seminary students who it said were kidnapped by Hamas.

Hamas neither confirmed nor denied responsibility. Rocket fire from Gaza increased during the West Bank dragnet. Tensions were further inflamed when the three teens’ bodies were discovered, after which suspected Israeli avengers killed a Palestinian youth from East Jerusalem.

Nevertheless, both Hamas and HA are full fledged terrorist organizations. Their final demise would be very welcome news. For now, they should elect a pwesident, so that our resistance spokesperson in residence can speak of ouw pwesident without confusing others, and we can discuss the matter together.

I find the Egyptian proposal for Gazza worthy of consideration but only if it guarantees the disarmament of Hamas leading to reduction in terrorist activities by the terrorist organization. However, I find such misguided notions as Qatar being groomed to play some kind of role to be counterproductive. Qatar’s activities must be scrutinized with regards to its clandestine support of terrorists especiallly the Hamas type.

Elizabeth Tsurkov @Elizrael · 6h
Senior Israeli official to @BarakRavid: The Egyptian proposal returns the situation to how it was before the op, only now Hamas is weaker
ReplyReplied to 0 times RetweetRetweeted 13 times13

People will remember that Wise King just called for a ground invasion of Gaza by the Israeli terrorist army. Now he cannot pretend that it was just conjectures (similar to the 25 occupation of Iraq he was asking for).

It seems you are the one being baited by the salafist’s bovine scatology. Leave him alone with his zionist mate. I think you are inserting yourself as the third wheel in this strange but budding romance…

Now that the wesistance pwos rejected the Egyptian cease fire proposal, the work protecting Israel continues. This will annoy and possible infuriate the BDS crowd and a few independent thinkers like Danny.

Now that we’ve categorized everyone for future identification, I was pondering something. With your close relationship to the Wise King and his blessed extended family, perhaps now would be a good time to approach him about recognizing the Semitic State of Israel. As you recall, Israel lost a powerful ally called Turkey a few years back, and they never were really able to replace it. Making allies in the ME is very important.

Do you think this is something we could pull off? I we succeeded, I think we would make the front page of Fox News.

You may find it interesting to know that in the last two days only 41 HA’s were killed in Syria.

Those who were able to do that deserve a medal of honor in my opinion. Even the mighty IDF could not boast of such numbers neither in previous battles nor in the current one in Gazza. I need to remind you that most of those killed in Gazza are civilians, a fact which weakens the Israeli case against Hamas.

So when will the GOI do something to regain the upper moral ground? Camping on the borders with thousands of recruits, and performing aerial acrobatics will not do that IMO.

The question which you seem to have missed to address is that the performance of the IDF is once again called into question.

Is the IDF still capable of achieving its military objectives and eliminating those who pose the greatest threats or is it only capable of camping on the borders doing nothing while hoping to achieve such objectives by using air power? This strategy seems to have failed. Does the GOI have the courage and the guts to commit those recruits to actual battles or are these recruits just going to be worn out sitting by idly doing nothing? Israel is not going to kill Meshaal or Haniyeh by flying F-16’s. You need people on the ground in actual combat.

To answer your questions: Assad killed hundreds of thousands of civilians. The opposition killed some civilians but not as many. Neither of these statistics help Israel out of its predicament described above. So why not address the issue instead of going off on a nonrelevant tangent?

Once again, here’s the ussue: the performance of the IDF is being scrutinized by many observers. Most of them would later argue wesistance crushed the IDF.

The question which you seem to have missed to address is that the performance of the IDF is once again called into question.

Mustap,

Thanks for the response.

OK, so your question is about the “performance of the IDF”. And you are grading performance on “military objectives. We’re on the same page up to this point.

Is the IDF still capable of achieving its military objectives and eliminating those who pose the greatest threats

The military objective is to destroy missiles and launchers, not people. Without missiles and launchers, Israelis are safe. Killing people does not make Israel safe and increase international pwessure.

Neither of these statistics help Israel out of its predicament described above.

Mustap,

Agreed, but as you know, Israel is judged much differently than arab countries. The BDS crowd and the wesistance pros like Erdogan don’t pop blood vessels when arabs kill arabs. That’s just the fax man.

I think that Israel will eventually have go back into Hamastan and take out the head of the snake, and I think Abbas and his entourage will be more than happy to gain territory and power. Israel can only take so much shit, and then she lets loose. I guess we’ll see what happens.

I don’t say what you’re saying is wrong, but if Israel goes into gaza and kills too many innocent civilians, that will also make it difficult. I trust BB, and I think he and his cabinet will make good decisions.

I found this on Daniel Pipes’ website (PressTV/Iran). It all boils down to this: According to the wesistancwe pwos, Israel is supposed to absorb missile fire without retaliating, and if Israel retaliates, well, she ‘s a Nazi State.

Of course, arabs can kill an infinite number of arabs and, well, no big deal.

It all boils down to anti-semitism HaBB. One set of rules for joos, another for the rest of the world.

Now this is all my opinion, but believe me, Israelis don’t give a fig about these nut jobs…

A simple lesson on the arab-israeli conflict for the Turkish anti-Semitic schmucks who think only Israel doesn’t have the right to self-defense. 90% of 11 million muslims killed from 1950 to the present was perpetrated by fellow muslims…

I think you were right. Victory seems to be the goal and I would hand the reigns over to the PA or Sisi. Another half – assed job isn’t worth a couple years of quiet while Hamas gets improved missiles from Iran.

I guess I’m confused. What did you mean when you was said the following:

Does the GOI have the courage and the guts to commit those recruits to actual battles or are these recruits just going to be worn out sitting by idly doing nothing? Israel is not going to kill Meshaal or Haniyeh by flying F-16′s. You need people on the ground in actual combat.

One minute you’re egging on the Israelis, now you can’t “defeat resistance”.

IMHO, resistance defeats itself by providing nothing but a dead end to the people who worship them.

BTW – who are the 11 dead soldiers that were killed? I didn’t read that. I did read that a bedouin was killed by a Hamas missile with the rest of his family wounded. I also read that Hamas rockets have landed in Arab Bethlehem and Hebron.

Misery and death is a staple all over the Middle East, not just in Gaza. To think this phenomenon is something I enjoy means you don’t have a clue.

My interest is preventing Israel from falling into the ME cesspool. From Algeria to Afghanistan, ME states are broken, and as unfortunate as 5 hat is, it doesn’t mean my people’s state has to fall into the same quicksand.

Who is right? Apparently Israel will always be wrong since we’ve established that Israel has no right to self defense.

AP,
Israel is broken too. If you were honest with yourself at least, you’d recognize and accept that it is not the Palestinians fault only. Both are at fault here. They have been doing this for 60 years, it cannot be one party’s fault.

If Israel is broken, then so is every other country in the world. Define broken. Despite wars, Israelis are doing OK. They have a government that works relatively well and their minorities are protected.

Yes, I blame the Palestinians who have a choice to live in Gaza and the West Bank in peace or live at war with Israel. And like Lebanon and the West Bank, if they prefer not to sign agreements, that’s fine too, unless they start firing missiles into Israel.

The protest in London was huge. Amazing. Not so many Arabs but mainly Muslims and thousands of English folks, Socialists, Jews – all calling Israel by its name i.e. a terrorist state. Like come on, seriously, people -any people- who have the slightest knowledge of what’s going in Palestine truly despise Israel.

There were 2 or 3 hizbullah flags desperately trying to get into the picture but the reactions were at best really embarrassed or outright hostile. People know what the corrupt yellow jackets ™ are doing in Syria and they wonder why the so-called resistance is not lifting a finger nowadays while Palestinians are massacred. Bashar lover George Galloway was here too – not long left before his support for the Syrian regime is properly exposed.

Anyway the zionist savages will kill Palestinians when they dare to show unity. And it will be the same thing when democracy will prevail in the region, by which people will just elect (among other reasons) those who reflect their hatred for the zionist adventure. Today is Palestine, tomorrow post-Assad Syria, post-idiot Jordan, post-al Salul Arabia, post-pimp Egypt etc etc … Blood, more blood. Einstein was right.

That’s another reason why resistance must declare victory. What are they waiting for?

Probably, they’re still waiting for a ‘divine’ signal’. So, we too must wait in eager anticipation while more Gazzans are slaughtered for the ‘sacred’ cause of ‘divine victory’. But victory will come as it is always the case with resistance. We must not have doubts about that.

Thanks once again to the Wise King who made immediate aid available to the people of Gazza, unlike those so-called demonstrators in London and elsewhere who can only shout slogans.

Resistance must be congratulated for not providing ANY shelters in its preparation for the coming victory for otherwise it wouldn’t be divine and there will be less need for demonstrations. But resistance did build UAV’s and other hardware for the war efforts.

“they wonder why the so-called resistance is not lifting a finger nowadays while Palestinians are massacred.”

I, too, have moments when I wish the PoG would lift massive bunches of “fingers” off of their launchers in coordinated barrages of tit-for-tat pre-emptive acts of self defense but, alas. The current ops against Gaza are modeled on the Israeli plans for southern Lebanon and beyond; it’s all in the timing and now is not the time to further inflame the bloodlust of whining pissant fear-biting losers of the Levant. They could freak out and nuke the whole region.

I, too, have moments when I wish the PoG would lift massive bunches of “fingers” off of their launchers in coordinated barrages of tit-for-tat pre-emptive acts of self defense but, alas

I too wonder if PoG has more pressing matters on its hands such as counting the dead streaming out of Syria, particularly from around the Qalamoun which we were told was secured by PoG just couple months ago.

Akbar Palace,

So, the few Hamas resistance heroes Israel has will now be freed along with thousand others for Evil Israeli soldier number 6092065?

Is that what you’re saying?

Then more victories for resistance. BB is in deep sh#t.

Also the Golani brigade turned out to be not so elite after all. Qassam now is the elite.

The equation is simple: In one day, 13 kills for Qassam from the Golanis, 87 CIVILIAN kills for the Golani. Not much of an elite brigade in my opinion if you can only kill civilians and suffer 13 so-called elites in return. At least Qassam is not killing civilians.

Lally, come on. You are well read and very articulate, so what prevents you from seeing the true nature of the Iranian proxy in Lebanon. It’s not because you’ve seen a couple of HA supporters gloating about “sheik Hassan” on the Corniche in Beirut or in a mana’ich spot in Montreal that makes it a really popular resistance movement among Arabs.

From Mauritania to Egypt, the support for the Yellow Jacks among Arabs is very very minimal as many people have either a sectarian predisposition to dislike them or an outright hatred for the killings they commit in Syria (or for bullying Lebanon as a whole, or for being a religious organization, or obviously for being a Iranian outpost in the Levant). In the Khaleej, I guess we will agree that the support is super minimal, close to zlitch, except in Qatif, Bahrein and Yemen (somehow). Now for the Levant, I give you that, significants portions are supporting the YJs, here are some percentages on top of my head : 50% in Leb, 30% in Syria, 50% in Iraq, 10% in Jordan, 70% in Palestine (but that’s different). So besides Palestine, the support from the other countries stems mainly from sectarian belongings and not from the “”Divine victories”” of the past.

So yeah, the powder will stay dry and the shebaa farms will remain under zionist occupation as long as the bosses in Qom judge it appropriate and aligned with their pace of talks with Amreeka.

On a side note, I would agree that the support for Hamas is close to 100% in all the arab countries. And by countries I mean the people, not the pro sisi journalists or the oil-dollars worshipers.

So now we have the QN Hamas-Hezbo-Sheikdom trio in a bit of a disagreement.

So unfortunate. Hey Threesa, you can at least thank Israel for supplying electricty, water and food while your resistance heroes are attacking us with missiles. Believe me, Assad is not so kind.

The equation is simple: In one day, 13 kills for Qassam from the Golanis, 87 CIVILIAN kills for the Golani. Not much of an elite brigade in my opinion if you can only kill civilians and suffer 13 so-called elites in return. At least Qassam is not killing civilians.

Mustap,

I see your appreciation of Israel is paper thin and down right phoney. Oh my. Pity.
And you stinky immaturity has come through loud and clear while callously present the numbers of Israeli dead, while falsely reporting all of the Gaza dead are civilian. Lastly, the Golani brigade are doing a fine job. No war is clean, so maybe this isn’t something you learned from your Saudi friends. Afterall, the Saudis are known to pay others to protect their asses. They don’t want to soil their white robes.

Why are you using foul language? I am a master of that when it comes to it.

So you bettet ST…up.

When did I say I appreciate Israel?

True, I am not anti zionist. But I never appreciated your zionist dream.

I would say it’s time for you to call it off. I mean the Zionist project.

You want to hear what Kerry said today about Israel? Or do you already know?

You have a choice: either you BEHAVE yourself and go back to normal, or the full wrath of His Wise Majesty will fall upon your head and BB’s. And we up at the Sheikdom don’t give a f#ck about so-called zionist nukes, like lilly’s HA’s.

Has anyone heard from the Israeli leftists recently? It’s like they’re all on vacation. BB could probably win 80 seats in the Knesset if there was voting today.

Foxnews: Colonel David Hunt has just advised the GOI to crush the fundies once and for all.

Anyway, the IDF is quickly learning about the “underground nightlife” is Gaza. Seems like Nasrallah and OBL, all the important government jobs are found underground like rats and insects. I have and idea, flood the tunnels with seawater and see what comes out.

Seems like so-called elite Golanis went furious after losing 13 of their own so-called elites and vented their rage upon nearby civilians in Shujaiah district, mowing the whole district with their ‘elite fire power’.

Now they’re happy their elite status is intact.

What a bunch of losers? And now an idiot on QN wants to sell imaginary heroism to the American public.

America is getting tired of sposoring your criminal zionist state and will sack your criminal it in a blink of an eye. There’s no need even for sea water to flush Golanis into the sewer along with BB and David Hunt. You ain’t seen nothing yet.

Commander of so-called elites of Golani brigade hunted and killed like a rat – just fresh from the wire. There was no need for sea water to flush him out of his elite hole. And no civilians were killed in the process.

Elite forces of the Qassams attacked deep inside Israel in the Netive HaAsara while rats of the Golani brigades were busy slaughtering Gazzan civilians.

Once again Eliteness is the exclusive domain of the Qassams in this assymetric warfare with the now deformed Golani mice.

Last time I had a peek on a recent photo shot of BB he looked grim-faced with visible worry lines clearly carved on his face. He knows he has been outmaneuvered and there is little he can do about it to extricate himself.

May he can start by kissing Kerry’s ass or licking his boots when he shows up later in Israel after meeting with His Highness the Prince of Qatar. But would Kerry be able or even be willing to save BB’s ass after the unforgiveable blunders he committed during the futile talks Kerry had with him not long ago? Kerry, I was told, is not the forgiving type.

Listen buddy, the Israelis are free to be dumb and vote one of their dumbs (BB) for as long as they wish. Who cares if a bunch of invading settlers want to commit mass suicide especially when they support a mass murderer of women and children. Certainly, Kerry wouldn’t care less, or perhaps he would care as much he cared about fighting in Vietnam.

You guys are done. No one wants you. Give up your defunct Zionist project – a valuable advice from a non anti-zionist. Or, once again go try your luck at Veterans Affairs.

Or do you want us to sanction a spokesman for a vile murderous entity?

Or perhaps now we can see true love flourishing between fans of two criminals: Dan and Akbar. It’ll be the perfect match made in heaven: a Geagea off spring and a BB tail head.

Akbar Palace,

If you have a shred of honor you would get the hell out of here. Your criminal scum bags you call elites are busy targeting hospitals and schools and civilians districts. And you come here expecting us to cheer them? Or worse assume a false sense of obfuscated morality and talk about speaking of different sides of the mouths? Or perhaps you have no place else to go? No one buys your bullsh#t at veterans today I guess?

3Issa. Come on yourself . Why should I adopt your sectarian enemy? Iran and HA are no threat to me and mine. I like your cafe reference tho….are there articulate elites who are uber annoying in their fandom?

I do understand that my opinions are confusing; they are largely a product of my American historical values which at their core, are martial in nature. Except for the brief Vietnam era, we revere our military and admire those who show great skill in fighting the good fight, be they medalled Generals or Chief Crazy Horse of the Ogalala Lakota who wiped out the US Calvary at Little BigHorn. We also love our revolutions and despite profound differences within the populace, would unquestionably unite to repel a foreign occupation. Collaboration with the enemy would earn one a lynching. In the broadest sense, Nasrallah and Hezbollah have commonalities that resonate with the American mythology. Another factor that shapes my perspective is that I am a true daughter of the American West; our narrative of rugged independence is of recent vintage.

FYI, my first real exposure to HA and Nasrallah was through the eyes of Israeli military analysts. They tend to eschew the hysterical political posturing in order to focus on the strengths and weaknesses of their enemy. From them I learned that Nasrallah keeps his word once given (big brownie points for a sense of honor) and that there were understandings of sorts between the GOI (Sharon) and Hezbollah in regards to engagements along the border. The warring parties conducted business with each other usually through the agency of the Germans. In brief, the picture painted from the pragmatic Israeli perspective is vastly different from the cartoonish boogeyman nonsense paint-by-number portraits advanced by some of their fellow citizens of and from, Lebanon and reiterated by the blathering dolts in DC.

Your iteration of the Arab opinions of Hezbollah is interesting and I wager, subject to change given that SUNNI Hamas is making the most of the coaching from the PoG:

Anshel Pfeffer @AnshelPfeffer · 8h
IDF officer just out of #Gaza “I’ve been in Shujaiyeh before but it was never like this. #Hamas are fighting like Hezbollah”
ReplyReplied to 0 times RetweetRetweeted 409 times409 FavoriteFavorited 89 times89

(This was readily apparent from the pattern of Palestinian rocket/missile barrages that seeks to mimic the successful tactic of attrition utilized by Hezbollah during Operation Just Reward.)

It may be of no account to you , 3Issa, but the admiration and respect for the skills exhibited by Hezbollah reach far far beyond the narrow confines of sectarian and politicized debate. In addition, the argument of Iranian influence in Lebanon is kind of beside the point given the interference by a witches’ brew of foreign entities in Lebanese affairs.

Looking to the future of the possibility of a rampant ISSI, do you understand that Hezbollah & Co, including the LAF, have the best chance to resist their onslaught?

What I find inexplicable is the coddling of genocidal zionists who would defend Gaza v. 2014: Operation Little Snakes.

PS. I was actually surprised that the Hezbollah flag was recognized on the streets of London as I doubt that anyone would pay much attention were it brandished in LA. Most likely it would be confused for the first flag of America:http://www.usaflagsupply.com/dont-tread-on-me-flag/

“Then again, even if a Hariri-Aoun deal brings either GMA himself or one of his relatives to Baabda, the election would trigger the dissolution of the cabinet, at which point another prime minister and cabinet would have to be nominated and elected, followed by the November parliamentary elections (which will trigger the dissolution of the infant cabinet and the election of yet another one, at which point we should be ready for a new president again…)”

Danny was the first to welcome me to QN due to his appreciation of my introductory rant about the embarrassing spectacle of American political types singing a maudlin version of “Happy Birthday” to the King of All The Long Dead Presidents; Ronnie Reagan. I knew he was a fun guy right away…geopolitical peccadillos aside.

Hey Danny! How about that clAoun? </;{)

More seriously, I arrived on this blog an unquestioning default believer in the American 2-Party Way and evolved into a fan of the factional horsetrading process that forces the accommodation of sometimes strange bedfellows in forming a government.

I have QN et al to thank for enlarging my perspective and giving me a window unto the ground games in the Levant and beyond. Good times!